The second-round series between the Capitals and Penguins hit a fever pitch on Tuesday, following Tom Wilson’s hit on Zach Aston-Reese, which resulted in a concussion and a broken jaw for the latter player.
Since then, accusations and rumors have been thrown around on both sides of the fence. Emotions are, understandably, running high, but we’re just going to take a moment to dial things back a little.
Sidney Crosby spat at Kuznetsov on the ice — a.k.a. #CrosbySpitGate
Crosby is either spitting at Kuzy or blowing him kisses… pic.twitter.com/CiXUda5VUn
— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) May 2, 2018
Thanks, in part, to a brief clip taken out of context, it appeared that Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby spat at Evgeny Kuznetsov during Game Three.
Here’s the whole thing. Ovi pulls Sids jersey and then let’s go/shoves Crosby. pic.twitter.com/eeSn3ZAq43
— Stanley Cup Round 2 Penguin (@JMikeyMania) May 2, 2018
A wider shot seemed to immediately debunk that. What initially looks like Crosby launching forward to, allegedly, spit, is in fact the result of Alex Ovechkin grabbing his jersey. The push-and-pull creates the illusion that Crosby spat.
Brett Connolly weighed in on the situation, as reported by The Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan.
“I don’t know if he actually spit. You’d have to ask him,” Connolly said. “It kind of looked like someone grabbed the back of his jersey, too, so maybe it was kind of a jerk reaction. Who knows? … I don’t think that’s his character.”
Tom Wilson was laughing on the bench after Zach Aston-Reese’s injury
Not exactly. Or, at least, not for the reason he is being accused of.
This rumor gained more traction after Kris Letang commented on the moment during a post-Game Three interview.
Kris Letang on Tom Wilson: "At the end of the day, I respect what kind of game he plays. But you don’t laugh at somebody getting hurt. You just don’t do that."
— Sam Werner (@SWernerPG) May 2, 2018
On Wednesday, several members of the Capitals organization addressed the accusation that Wilson had been laughing specifically at Aston-Reese’s injury.
The Penguins were upset last night because Tom Wilson was smiling after the hit that injured Zach Aston-Reese. Today, Barry Trotz explained that Wilson was smiling about something that was said the #Caps’ bench, not the injured #Pens player. #CapsPens #ALLCAPS #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/Q2IWoRQPaf
— Tarik El-Bashir⌨️🎙🏒 (@TarikNBCS) May 2, 2018
“What was happening: 19,000 people were booing him,” Barry Trotz said. “And something funny was said on the bench, and that’s why he was smiling. A guy made a funny comment that he’s got all of his friends in the building, and that’s where the smile was.”
Jay Beagle later corroborated Trotz’s statement, admitting that he was the player in question that might have made the joke.
Jay Beagle also seemed to acknowledge that he said something funny to Tom Wilson on the bench. #Caps #CapsPens pic.twitter.com/gX7HRo0Ljp
— Tarik El-Bashir⌨️🎙🏒 (@TarikNBCS) May 2, 2018
“I might have said a joke, or two,” Beagle said. “To keep it light.”
NBC Sports Washington’s Tarik El-Bashir pin-pointed the moment in the broadcast that this exchange happened — which does feature both Beagle and Wilson, and results in Wilson smiling and laughing.
Is this the moment Coach Barry Trotz was talking about when he explained why Tom Wilson was smiling? #Caps #CapsPens pic.twitter.com/eauiR6lMSI
— Tarik El-Bashir⌨️🎙🏒 (@TarikNBCS) May 2, 2018
Was the laughter malicious? Unlikely. Poorly timed? Absolutely.
The Capitals media presented Wilson with Zach Aston-Reese’s glove as a trophy post-game
Hm what? pic.twitter.com/JApKVAl7ta
— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) May 2, 2018
No. No, they did not. And if you believe this one, we really, really don’t know what to say to you.
